Ball-throwing machine



Oct. 6, "1931. w. ci. MAUNEY BALL THRowING mcnnmA 2 8 ao, 5 2 oo., l

3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 3l. 1930 Get. 6, 1931. w. c. MAUNEY 1,825,882

` BALL THRowING MACHINE Filed May 51, 1930 a sheets-sheet 2 4L/MM@ E 1N VEN TOR.

A TTORNE Y.

Oct. 6, 1931.

w. c. MAUNEY v BALL THROWING MACHINE Filed May 3l. 19550 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Mau/ff 6MM/uf l N VEN TOR dll me me A TTORNE Y.

.f 2@ for feedin Patented 6', 19,31

I 'WILLIAM GIYDE MUN'EY, 0F GASTONIA, NORTH CAROLINA.

BALL-'Innow'mo mnomim Application filed May 31,1980. Serial No. 458,065..

This invention relates to a machine for throwing balls and more especially to a machine having a throwing arm adapted to be operated by the falling of a weight to operate the throwing arm with means for raising said weight after the same has fallen and means for releasing said weight to cause the same to fall again to operate the throwing arm to throw a ball through a hole or to a point where it is adapted to be struckby a player to knock the ball against a canvas for the purpose of-playing a base ball game indoors.

Another object of my invention isto pro- 15 vide a base ball throwing machine having means for throwing the ball and means for regulating the velocity to the throwing means, and automatic means one ball at a time back onto the arm to a position where said ball can be thrown.

Some of the obj been stated other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in the connection with the accompanying drawings, in

whichj Figure 1 is a side elevation with parts broken away for sake of clearness;

Figure 2 is a plan view of my device;

Figure 3 is an end view taken from the left hand end of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a view taken along the line 4-4 in Figure 1;

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail view of a portion of the chain for operating the weight means. .j t

Referring more specically to the drawings the numerals 10 and 11 indicate the lower side frame members-of my machine while the numerals 12 and 13 indicate the end frame members of said device. A center cross piece 14 is also provided. Projecting upwardly from the bottom frame members are the uprights 15, 16, 17 and 18. The top of these posts are secured together by crossv pieces 19 and 20. j

Secured on the short upright 21 and to the post 18 is a table 22 on which an electric moj 5o tor 23 is mounted which Vmotor has the worm '30 which also is mounted om sprocket 31 of the thrown ballA together with means for returning the ball ects of my invention having 24 thereon which meshes with a gear 25 which l is mounted on shaft 26, which shaft is mounted in the upright 27 and in the bearing 28, and on the shaft 26 is a sprocket 29 and mounted on this sprocket is a sprocket chain which is fixed on shaft 32 which is rotatably mounted in suitable bearings 33 which are secured on posts 15 and 18. A sprocket 35 is also mounted on shaft 32 and on this sprocket is mounted the sprocket chain 36 which passes over an idler sprocket 37 and also over an idler sprocket 39 mounted in suitable supports 40 at each end thereof, and this chain has a projection 41 thereon which "is adapted to engage a weight 42 which is slidably mounted on rod 43 to raise the same and immediately below the projection `41 which is integral with link 45 of chain 36 the links 46 and 47 have the projections 48 and 49 integral therewith to stien the chain to keep the same from bending when the projection 41 engages-the weight to lift the same upwardly on the rod 43. rThe link 47 being thick will cause the end 49 to engage the link 46 but the link 46 being thin, then the end of the projection 48 must be spread outwardly as at 50 to prevent the same from going between the portions of the link 45. The rod 43 is, supported at its top portion by means of the brace 52 and the lower end thereof is mounted in the cross piece 14. Rigidly mounted in collars such as 57`is the shaft 58 and on said shaft 58 is a loosely mounted lever 59 which is held in position by means of collars 60 on each side thereof, and'this lever 59 projects outwardly and is penetrated by the vertically disposed rod 43 and a shock absorbing member 61 is placed on the upper.- end of this arm 59 against which the weight 42 is adapted to fall to force said arm downwardly at the free end thereof. Mounted in the free end of said arm 59 is an eye 63 to which is secured a tension spring 64 and to lthe upper end of this tension spring is secured a flexible member such as a sprocket chain 65 which passes over sprocket wheel 66 which is mounted on shaft 67, said shaft being mounted in the bearing portions 68 and 69.V This chain 65 after passing over M Y with the collar 89 secure sition of the collars and cross normal position as shown in the sprocket wheel 66 is secured at its end on sprocket 70 on shaft 71, said shaft 71 being rotatable in bearings72 and 73, and a torsion s ring 74 is secured as at 75 on Said shaft and the other end of said torsion spring is secured as at 76 so asto cause said shaft 71 4to normally assume the position shown in 4 full lines in Figure 1. Fixedly secured on the shaft 71 is the arm 77 which has a channel 78 therein, and the rounded concave end portion 7 9, in which aball 80 is adapted to restto be thrown through the hole 81 in the screen 82 which will presentl be described. This arm 77 has Vthe arcuate s ield 83 on the end thereof which serves normally to prevent the ball from trough 84 from rolling any further than shown in Figure 1. The rod 86 is secured in the frame work and has a. collar 87 thereon and a com ression spring 88 at the other end thereof, immediately behind the collar 89 is secured the cross piece 90 which runs over to a similar shaft 91 which is parallel to the shaft 86, saidpshaft 91 also having a collar 92 thereon and a compression spring 93 whichv is similar to the compression spring 88. The purpose of this being that when the short end of lever 77 strikes against this'that it will limit its movement and by adjusting the poiece 90 the len h of throw of said arm can adjusted.

t ransversely disposed between the members 10 and 11 is a member 94 against which the free end of lever 77 is ada ted to rest in igure 1, and secured to the lower face of this member 94 is an angle iron 95 in which one end of rods 86 and 91 are secured, the other ends of said rods being secured to the member 13 as at 96 and 97.

The trough 84 which has been described as resting onwthe member 13 also rests on the member and curves upwardly andv on either side thereof are the members 101 and 102 forming a trough 103 therebetween, and the ends of this trough are closed in any suitable manner and are slightly inclined toward the center the bottom members being indicated by the reference characters 104 and 105, and belng supported by members 106. The screen 82 is supported by means of the uprights 105a and 10611 with the top member 107, and on the right hand side of the screen 82 as appears in Figure 1, and which 'more fully appears in Figure 4 and above the holeA 81 is the diagram composed of sections 108, 109, and 111 to indicate the score made when a ball is struck by the person playing the game and hits against any one of these sections. The ball after hitting against the canvas or screen 82 falls downwardly on a floor 112 which is supported by means of the members 106 and rolls through a slot 113 into the trough 103 and down through the chute 84 ready to be picked up one at a time by the nausea" guard 83 and lever 77. It being ap' arent that lever 77 will pick up only one b at a time whenl it is raised to the dotted line position as shown in Figure 1.

The chain 36 also has the projection 41a thereon andthe associated links which are not .shown in the drawin are identical to thoseshown in Fi ure 5, t e urpose of this being that when t e weight 1s lifted by the lug 41 and is allowed to fall that the travel of the chain will be such, and the projection 41a will be so located on the chain as to reach a point just beneath the weight in its lower most position to touch the weight and-raise it 1111p to allow it to fall again to pitch another ba this operation being continued solong as the machine is in o ration. f

It is evident that w en the arm 77 is in the dotted line position shown in Fi re 1 that the shield 83 will be lowered an allow one ball to slide over the same and into the channel 78 and roll into the rounded concave portion 79, and as soon as this occurs the torsion spring 74 will move the arm 77 back to the full l1ne position shown in Figure 1, so it is seen that the feeding of the balls 80 to the pitching arm is automatic and one at a time.

In the drawings and specification I have set forth a referred embodiment of my invention, and) although specific terms are employed they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only, and not for pur oses of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A base ball throwerl having a pitching arm, means for operating said pitching arm intermittently by the falling of a weight and means for raising said weightintermittentlly.

2. In a base ball throwing machine, a pitc ing arm, a; flexible member secured to said pitching arm and being adapted to be wound therearound when the pitching arm is in normal position, a framework, a sprocket wheel mounted in said framework, said flexible member being adapted to be led over said sprocket wheel, a pivoted lever member to which the other end of said sprocket chain is adapted to be connected, a weight member adapted to rest on said pivoted member in normal position, and means for raisin said weight member to allow the same to fa and strike against said pivoted member to operate said pitching arm.

3. In a base ball throwing machine, a pitching arm having a concave portion in the free en thereof, a channel extending along the upper ed e of the pitching arm, a guard member at t e end of said pitching arm, means for intermittently o era-ting said pitching arm, a passageway ad balls to the end of said pitching arm having said guard member thereon, said pitching arm and guard member being adapted to allow one ball at a time to pass into said chanapted to lead nel on said pitching arm and to roll .into the concave en portion while said pitching am isl assuming a normal position.

4. In a base ball throwin machine, a frame work, a transversely sposed shaft' mounted in said framework, a pitching arm mounted on said 'shaft a exible member wound around said shaft, a pivoted member secured in said framework, connections be# tween said flexible member and said ivoted member, a weight member mounted or vertical movement in said framework, means `for elevating said weight member, means for releasing said weight member to allow the same' to fall to strike said pivoted member to operate said shaft and said itching arm.

In testimony whereoi) I aix my si ature.

vWILLIAM CLYDE MA EY. 

